Flair icons are BoardGameGeek microbadges and are used with permission.

Welcome

Welcome to /r/boardgames! The #1 reddit source for the news, information, and discussion about modern board games, from Settlers of Catan through Arkham Horror to Twilight Struggle (and anything else in between).

I don't know if posts like this are encouraged here, but I had to tell someone!

Anyway, I recently discovered this wonderful world of boardgames beyond Monopoly and such. I had just stumbled upon this sub when Amazon had that big sale a couple weeks ago and took advantage of it to pick up Flash Point and Forbidden Island. I also bought Space Hulk: Death Angel at the same time (the game that led me here, from seeing someone mention it in a discussion about the new Space Hulk video game).

We've both been super busy since then, so haven't had any time to try them out (I squeezed in a game of Space Hulk, but that's not really the sort of game to bring her in on), and then tonight we played Forbidden Island. We won with just a few tiles left on the board and a single path back to the helicopter! She was a bit overwhelmed right at first (she had just wrapped up a school project, so a bit mentally fatigued) but quickly picked up on the strategy of the game. I deliberately held my tongue and let her pick her own moves, only jumping in to suggest multi-turn strategies, and she did great!

She said afterwards that she enjoyed it, and enjoyed having another thing that we can do together, so I think it bodes well for the future. She always complains about not having a hobby, so hopefully this can fill that gap to some degree. Our first date involved her teaching me to play Skip-Bo (which we still play every couple weeks), so really the gaming seed has been there all along.

Not really looking for game suggestions or anything, since there was a thread on that recently, just wanted to gush about my awesome future bride a bit. Would love to hear similar stories if anyone wants to share!

That's great! I had a similar experience with my fiancee. She's a horror nut, so I coaxed her into playing a game of Betrayal a few years ago, and she's been hooked ever since. I love having a second player always around and ready to play (even if she kicks my ass every time we play Ascension)!

I think that's the trick with significant others who are not generally gamers. You have to find some small avenue in, for instance my wife has always loved card games like skipbo and kings in a corner. So I started with other card games like Jaipur and Battle Line. We worked up from there and now she likes all kinds of games all the way up to Castles of Burgundy.

I have been playing games for the last five months or so, getting my girlfriend more and more involved, to the point where she starts most of our gaming sessions now! She became my fiancee last week and our first game was Avalon with my family. Nothing like lying to your future in-laws she thought...they all sided with her.

Only semi-related: My gf and I JUST played Space Hulk: Death Angel for the first time. That game chewed us up and spat us out. Good Lord. I have never played a game where die rolls can destroy you so hard and so fast.

Ohhhh yeah. We scoffed at how hard we heard it was after a couple relatively easy wins. Then we realized we weren't using the Support tokens correctly, started a new game, and was annihilated on the second level. That game is a beast.

Yeah I see everyone go on about Pandemic but I liked the theme/style of Flash Point better. Getting Pandemic would be a bit redundant at this point lol. I think I'll get a competitive game next anyway.

It really is great to have an SO as a gaming partner! My gf knew nothing about designer games either but she saw my collection and was eager to know more about it and try it out since I was so into it (which is a great trait to have when getting to know someone fyi)

I don't think she was really gelling with it on the first couple games (7 wonders, settlers) but something clicked when we played Castle of Burgundy. She got really into that game, playing it online all the time and now is always interested in trying new games with me. She recently bought Rialto, Le Havre and Morels to add to the collection.

good job OP bringing more into the fold of tabletop gaming. you sound like you know what you're doing with regards to game choice so I commend you on that too. Forbidden Island is a good choice. I won't bother with suggestions but carry on see if you can get her competitive turn your Mrs Tibbs into Scarface, Walter White style.

Well done, I just received my latest package of boardgames today containing forbidden island.
I've been trying to think of a game to get the gf into boardgaming, maybe forbidden island should be the one.

This is awesome to hear! I have heard excellent stories over the last few years of boardgaming's comeback with partners getting their significant others to the table more often. Congrats and I hope it continues to bring joy to your relationship and your love of the hobby!

Well, I'm not there yet but I'm hoping to get my wife interested in some gaming. We watched several episodes of Tabletop and she thought Pandemic looked most interesting so I'm picking that up tonight in the hope I can get fire started.
We already get along fine and have for 14 years but it never hurts to have more things to do and like your wife she doesn't really have any hobbies.